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Show Budgeting the Food Money to Get Full Food Value Consider Nutrition anil Balanced Bal-anced Diet in Making Selections. Getting full value for the money expended for food, s;iys the Bureau of Home Economics of the United States Department of Agriculture, is not only a matter of getting good quality and full measure. It Is very definitely a matter of selecting foods for their nutritive value and the particular par-ticular contributions they make to a balanced diet. The best way to do this, the bureau suggests, is to draw up a food budget, haed on a diet, balanced for nutritive values, nnd then try to buy accordingly. Budget-making Budget-making helps to keep within the family fam-ily Income, and also to guard the family health by providing the necessary neces-sary variety of foods for well-planned meals. A food budget, however, like any other budget, Is very much a family affair suited to the family for which It Is made and probably no other. The housekeeper must plan It according ac-cording to the make-up of her family, fam-ily, their habits, and their tastes, as well as their Income. Are there children, and If so, how many nnd how old? Do all members of the family eat all their meals at home? Do the children get hot lunches at school? Are there many frequent guests at the family table, and how much other entertaining is done in this home? And last, but by no means least important, what likes and dislikes must be allowed for? With due allowance for such points as these, the housekeeper may find It useful to apply the suggestion of the Bureau of Home Economics that she divide her food money In five portions, and spend It for five different groups of foods. For example, ex-ample, If the family consists of two adults and two children about eight and ten years old, and the amount of food available Is $12 or $13 a week, It would be well to divide the food dollar like this: Milk and cheese one-fourth or more. Vegetables and fruits one-fourth or more. Meats, poultry, fish and eggs about one-sixth. Bread and cereals about one-elg-hth. . Fats, sugar, and accessories about one-sixth. Within each of these five groups of foods, there will be, of course, a good -many alternatives and In some cases choices among food products prod-ucts of similar food value. In other cases selection must be wisely made In order to be sure about food value. But, for a balanced diet, none of the groups may be omitted, and no group is Interchangeable with any other group. To consider the possibilities group by group: Milk and Cheese. For those who do not drink milk, this important food may be used In soups, sauces, puddings, or in the form of cheese. Evaporated and dried milk are practically as nutritious nutri-tious as fresh milk, and five ounces of Cheddar cheese is about equal to a quart of whole milk. Vegetables. Generally speaking, all the vegetables vege-tables serve similar purposes In the diet, but some of them, such as onions and celery, are more Important Impor-tant for flavor than for food value. Others have special values for which they should be given a separate listing. list-ing. Fruits. At this time of year, of course, winter apples are at their best, oranges or-anges and grapefruit and tangerines are at the height of their season, ba nanas are plentiful. Until the fresh peaches, apricots, plums, pears and pineapple, or the berries nnd grapes are in season again, there are canned fruits of all kinds, nnd there are also the dried fruits with their more concentrated con-centrated food values. Meats, Poultry, Eggs and Fish. Muscle meats, whatever the kind or cut, have about the same food values. Liver, kidneys, and other organs or-gans of meat animals are still more nutritious, and so are eggs and soma kinds of tish. Bread and Cereals. These mean Hour, corn meal, rice, macaroni, spaghetti, and various breakfast cereals, as well as bread, crackers, and other bakery goods. It is a good tiling to use some whole-grain whole-grain cereals, to make the most of the food values of the grain. Fats and Sugars. Fats and sugars are grouped together to-gether because they are all concentrated concen-trated energy foods. The fats Include In-clude not only butter, margarine, lard, or vegetable shortenings, but salt pork and bacon. With sugars are classed sirups and molasses, also jellies, Jams, and honey. Accessories. The main point of this food budget is lt9 variety at moderate cost. Human Hu-man beings require energy foods, body building foods, and health-protective foods, and the diet pattern suggested here supplies all these. |